Michael Craig's Journal

It’s 2:45 AM on Sunday. I play in the Main Event in eight hours and forty-five minutes. (Table 105, Seat 8, if you want to drop by and say hello.) Something in my mind can’t register that this is for real.

That’s the only explanation I can come up with for why I spent the last four hours smoking cigars and playing Pai Gau with Richard Brodie. The actual reason is that Brodie is one of the nicest, friendliest, smartest people I know and my credo has always been, DON’T SAY NO.

I had talked about having a cigar with him while my friend Steve was in town. So when Richard called, I didn’t want to say no.

Just before that, to “warm up” for the tournament - my last hand of no-limit hold ‘em was when my queens lost to Perry Friedman’s aces a couple weeks ago - I played a $50+$5 multi on Full Tilt. I did not cash but was very pleased how I played, especially in practicing a couple skills I would need for tomorrow: sneaking into situations where I could bust a bigger starting hand, and throwing away quality cards where an opponent was nice enough to show me the aggression to suggest my superior starting cards were no longer superior.

Without a doubt I should be sleeping now. I slept just four hours last night, but the environment just doesn’t promote that. I spent today showing the World Series to Eric Gladstone, a journalist/movie producer who is working with Robin Leach to possibly turn the BLUFF articles I wrote about the 2006 Andy Beal games into a TV movie.

Also, for some reason it is impossible to sleep past 9:15 AM at the Smoke & Disinfectant Inn. Part of the reason is the fire alarm that tends to gently rouse me at that time. Part of it is the converted shower curtain covering the window lets in just enough sunlight to burn my eyes.

But I’m really going to try to get some sleep. I got some great advice from Richard Brodie. I have a lot of confidence that the skills I’ve been developing are still present from the tourney I played online. I spent a couple hours this afternoon with Clonie Gowen and talked her into buying a kimono at the lucky-dragon-thingee store at Rio, and she bought a Buddha for future luck, which she has loaned me. (That’s a freeroll: if it “doesn’t work,” I’ll get to keep it because she won’t want it. If it “works,” she’s not seeing it again.) I’ve also got permission from Full Tilt and Mike Matusow to wear Mike’s 2005 Full Tilt baseball jersey. I’m not 100% sure I’m going to do it, but I might.

Note 1: At the second break today, I was waiting in line at the bathroom and the guy in front of me said, “It’s a real grind.” He was shocked when I told him they played until past 3 AM the night before and, therefore, would be doing it again. That’s one edge I have on many in the field: I at least know that, plus I have enough vampire habits to handle it.

Note 2: I just looked at my parking stub from Caesars the other night.  The front has standard information but the back has a notation “Damage Noted” and to pictures of a car. The car looks like a early-Eighties Lincoln Continental. Is Michael Corleone still keeping a car with the valet?

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 30th, 2006 at 5:02 am and is filed under My favourites:.